Our beacon of strength: Holocaust survivors call on us to act

Sixty Holocaust survivors from Israel, who endured ghettos, camps, forests, and places of hiding, were meant to lead today, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, the International March of the Living on Polish soil, alongside 40 survivors from around the world.

They are between the ages of 80 and 100. Some were born at the time of liberation; others remember everything. All of them waited for this moment—a moment of victory and rebirth. To walk once more through the gates of hell and emerge upright, surrounded by family and the Israeli flag, and to say: we were here. We lost what was most precious to us—our childhood, our homes—but not our spirit.

They were meant to return today to Auschwitz-Birkenau as victors—those who witnessed humanity collapse yet refused to surrender to despair. They built lives, established families, communities, and a remarkable state—a state that continues to fight to ensure it will never again depend on others for its security.

This year, they could not come to march, as their safety could not be guaranteed in the midst of a war against those who seek to destroy the Jewish state.

Yet in the past week, following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire, and despite the immense logistical and security challenges, we made a last-minute decision to bring a small delegation of 11 Holocaust survivors from Israel to take part in the March. Their presence here today is a testament to their resilience and to the enduring commitment to bear witness, no matter the circumstances.

But the eternal people do not fear a long road. In this year’s march, 7000 participants from around the world will walk in their name, and next year they will return, heads held high, to march together.

Holocaust survivors are a beacon of strength and inspiration. It was not always so. For years, they carried the weight of painful questions: “Why did you survive?” “How did you go like sheep to the slaughter?”. The burden of guilt followed. Only after the Eichmann Trial did recognition begin to take root, as survivors opened their hearts after decades of silence. Voices that had been suppressed for years began to be heard, and attitudes toward them changed.

The October 7 massacre once again shook the world of Holocaust survivors and broke their hearts anew. They never believed they would see Jews slaughtered again—especially not in their own state. Reality struck, forcing many of them back into the emotions of the past. For over two and a half years, they have carried the hostages in their hearts, prayed for their return, and relived the pain. Yet out of this fracture, a connection was also formed, as survivors of captivity walked hand in hand with Holocaust survivors in the Marches of the Living in recent years.

There, in Poland, on soil soaked with Jewish blood, survivors of the massacre looked to Holocaust survivors and found a source of strength—a living proof that it is possible to rise again, to rebuild life even after the abyss. This year, they were meant to march side by side once more, closing a circle when, at last, all our hostages would return home from the hell of Gaza.

Each year, I am moved to see how the march continues to grow—more young people join, more delegations arrive from Israel and around the world, more voices unite to say: We are here. We remember. We do not forget. We do not give up.

Precisely at this time, as antisemitism rises, our responsibility becomes clearer: to stand tall before the world, to safeguard the memory of the Holocaust and fight its denial, and to prove through our actions the resilience of the Jewish people and the State of Israel.

Holocaust survivors are a living and painful testimony to a time when the world failed to act in the face of antisemitism. They see today’s antisemitism, and they are afraid—not for themselves, but for their children and grandchildren. Because of their age, they speak with urgency: stop antisemitism—now.

We are living on borrowed time. Holocaust survivors will not be with us forever. Listen to their voices—now.

Draw strength from their resilience. Promise them that we will stand firm against hatred of Jews—and that we will never, ever forget, and never allow the Holocaust to be forgotten.